Disgaea

NIS has announced that the Disgaea Triple Play Collection is coming to the US on September 15. It's currently available in Europe, but today is the first time the publisher has revealed that it will be coming furthe...

Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance will be making its way to the PS4 on October 6 in North America, and October 9 in Europe, NIS has announced. It will feature a new Overlord named Void Dark, and a demon who stands against him...

Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy is still on track for a release in June in the west for the PlayStation Vita, but you'll get a chance now to vote for some extra characters from the Disgaea series to appear in the seque...

Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance will be out next month in Japan and later this year internationally, so for now all we can do is look at footage and compare and contrast the newly minted cast to past additions. So far I'm actually enjoying the new characters, including Usalia, who rides a yellow Prinny at all times.
Oh, and she's apparently a wererabbit. Amazing!

The release of Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance isn't too far off, and Nippon Ichi Software has crafted a variety show of sorts called The Disgaea Channel. It's all in Japanese, but it's 30 minutes long, and features gi...

This may be me projecting. I think about s-CRY-ed a lot. I don't know why. And it certainly did not invent the "guy with cool arm" genre. Still, the first half of this trailer reminded me a lot of s-CRY-ed, and then the...

Disgaea 1 and 2 were ported to the PSP, and Disgaea 3 and 4 were ported to the Vita, allowing handheld gamers to enjoy the series. Unfortunately it doesn't look like the PS4-bound Disgaea 5 will get that s...

Still not tired of SRPGs
NIS has released a new video for Disgaea 5, and the animations and insane special attacks are as crazy as ever. I'm really loving the landscapes this time around, as there seems to be a lot more diversity when it comes to th...

'Dis guy, ehhh?
At the Tokyo Game Show we learned Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance (awful subtitle*) was coming to PS4 in 2015. NIS America has confirmed it will be available in North America and Europe in the fall of 20...

Developer NIS has informed us that a browser game called Prinny Research Squad is in the works. It's a tie-in to Disgaea 5, and will feature exploration gameplay of some sort.
In typical Prinny fashion, it will be extremely w...

Disgaea 5 will be the biggest game in the series to date, stated developer Nippon Ichi Software's president Sohei Niikawa. He stated that the company had considered designing the game to be multi-platform with a release on th...

More news from Sony's pre-Tokyo Game Show conference. NIS is working on Disgaea 5 for PS4 after the recent Vita port of Disgaea 4. It's coming out in 2015. A new Hot Shots Golf meant to capitalize on the PS4's socia...

The fact Disgaea is wild and bizarre may come as no surprise to series veterans, but for any newcomers out there, this new trailer should leave you with little doubt.
Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited debuts in North Ameri...

NIS was a bit of a hidden treasure at E3.
The publisher shared a booth with Atlus and it took me stopping and actually looking at what was on display at the demo station to put two and two together. The search was well worth it because I was rewarded with a closer look at three upcoming titles: Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited, and Natural Doctrine.

Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited finally has a release date for the PlayStation Vita! North America can expect this one on August 12, while Europe will see this on August 29. The game will be available via retail and digital st...

Earlier today, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair got a release date for North American Vitas: September 2. I still need to play the first.
Anyway, more Japanese games have western release dates. Compile Heart's RPG Fairy Fencer ...

Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited is slated to bring its unique brand of tactical role-playing goodness to PlayStation Vita in North America and Europe sometime this summer, according to NIS America.
Initially released on P...

Disgaea 4 is coming to the Vita in the form of Disgaea 4 Returns, and you can get a quick look at what's on offer in this new trailer from developer NIS. The franchise's signature style is all here, including Prinny costumes...

Plus Borderlands 2 and Dishonored Game of the Year editions
It's here! It's finally here! Pokemon X and Y is out this week for the 3DS and it's pretty much going to be the only thing anyone talks about leading up to the next-gen consoles. Oh, Beyond: Two Souls is also out this week. ...

Oct 07 //
Chris Carter
Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness (PS3)Developer: Nippon Ichi SoftwarePublisher: Nippon Ichi SoftwareReleased: October 8, 2013 (NA) / September 27 (EU)MSRP: $49.99
If you've never played a Disgaea game before, the focus is decidedly on nonsensical fun, with a touch of anime-style insanity. Disgaea's trademark humor is back, including Etna's anime interludes, Prinny debauchery, and other silly sideshows. The voice acting ranges from over the top to top notch, and if there's any downside to D2's presentation, it's that the game assumes you already know the characters inside and out -- so if you haven't played the first one, either seek it out or read about the main characters a bit before you dive in.
Tonally, D2 is also in a different spot. Whereas the first game had a story that was nonsensical as well, there were a few brief moments that hit hard and touched on concepts like sacrifice, morality, and death -- with a few surprises along the way. There's basically none of that in D2. Instead, you'll experience more craziness, like Laharl turning into a girl, or Laharl finding his long-lost angelic sister. But so long as you're not expecting some earth-shattering revelations, all of that silliness is totally worth watching, and it's in the spirit of the franchise -- in a good way.
As is the case with previous games in the franchise, Disgaea isn't exactly on what you'd call the cutting edge of visuals. Although the character designs (both new and old) are top-notch stuff, the actual in-game models leave much to be desired, especially near the end of the PS3's lifecycle. It's all pretty low-tech, but thankfully the interface is still as sleek and as effective as ever, so you shouldn't have much trouble navigating your way into any of the game's hundreds of options.
Disgaea D2 is a strategy RPG (SRPG) through and through, as battles take place on a grid-like board in a turned-based fashion. But instead of taking turns individually, the way Disgaea works is you take turns as a team, then the entire AI side goes. So basically, you can plan out each and every move for your entire party, and take it all back, initiate every action at once, or use the "execute" menu option to only queue up certain abilities. It's an easy to understand yet complex system that really makes the combat sequences in Disgaea special, since you need to learn how to plan out everything at once.
In short, everything you do could potentially combine with something else whether that's a team attack or just a matter of positioning that varies with every skirmish. The key to Disgaea is that you need to think about almost every individual move you make -- especially on some of the more difficult boss battles. With that said, D2 is probably one of the easiest games in the franchise to pick up mechanically, as it's all laid out to you in the very beginning in a comprehensive tutorial. The only problem is the story jumps in assuming you already know the characters, making for a somewhat jarring juxtaposition.
Customization is king in Disgaea, and it's just as lively in D2. Using a tool called the Dark Assembly, you can create your own custom party right after the tutorial, and pretty much roll the exact way you want to. If you're keen on creating a ton of weak fighters to help set up combos -- that's cool. If you want to create a select few powerful casters first or attempt a more defensive strategy, that's cool too.
You can also set up your party to be apprentices to certain classes and characters, learning their master's abilities in the process, and creating hybrids. New to D2, you can also raise party affinity levels (which are referred to as "likeability" levels) to connect them to certain party members for added bonuses. Mounting creatures and riding them around is a new feature, which isn't as fun as it sounds outside of a few test runs. Although, it finally does carve a niche for monsters that really wasn't as sound as before, and it's far superior to the Magichange system of previous games.
You can also change the game the way you want to, like raising or lowering experience or currency rates. Although this was always an option to an extent, D2 takes it to an extreme, with a mechanic called the "Cheat Shop." The concept of the Disgaea series is pretty simple -- if you can dream it within the confines of an SRPG shell, you can do it.
Various mechanics from past games are pretty much all here, like the ability to combo attacks when next to each other. Geo Panels also return from the old games, adding a puzzle element to the proceedings, coloring different pieces of the grid with different modifiers like "enemies do 50% extra damage when on green tiles." Throwing returns as well, which allows you to create stacks of characters and reach areas you otherwise wouldn't be able to while walking. Again, character placement is key.
The Item World returns, and like other entries' iterations of the concept, it doesn't disappoint. As one of the wackiest concepts to ever grace gaming, every single item has a "world" that you can give into, with a certain amount of "floors" in it. As you progress to each floor, your item will become stronger. When combined with the ability to "reincarnate" and start all over from level one (with a certain degree of prior stats) and raising the difficulty by way of the Dark Assembly to the maximum, the race for level 9999 and top item levels can result in hundreds of hours of gameplay.
As a result of its mixed messages, Disgaea D2 is in an odd spot. It's a tad easier than previous games, but it also unmistakeably requires a good amount of series knowledge to really get into it and appreciate the characters. But I do have good news -- if you want more Disgaea, this delivers. Even if you've skipped every single iteration since the first, you can jump right into D2 like nothing ever happened, and enjoy it all the same.

It's Disgaea, doodI've been playing tactical games since the NES, but there was something about the Disgaea franchise that really resonates with me. Offering up a ridiculous level of customization and refinement, Disgaea sat upon a pedestal in...

You want more RPGs on your Vita? Your wish is granted! In addition to Phantasy Star Nova, Natural Doctrine, and a number of other games, Idea Factory is teaming up with the director of Disgaea 4 (Masahiro Yamamoto) for a bran...

For those of you who have been waiting for the inevitable Vita version of Disgaea 4, you may not have to wait much longer. Siliconera is reporting that the enhanced game -- titled Disgaea 4 Returns -- will be hitting Sony's ...

Disgaea D2 is all set for a September release in Europe (October in North America), but it's already been out in Japan for quite some time, racking up a fair bit of DLC characters. The latest batch of units to join the battle...

NIS is no stranger to bringing cross-franchise characters to the Disgaea series, and Disgaea D2 is no exception. Fans of the classic SRPG Phantom Brave (one of my favorites!) will be pleased to know that Marona and Ash are c...

NIS has a new English trailer for Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness, and it shows off a fair bit of gameplay, art, and even voice acting. You'll get an introduction to the game's cast and their personalities, as well as some o...

Rejoice Valvatorez fans, as Disgaea 4 is officially headed to the PlayStation Vita this January in Japan as Disgaea 4 Return. Following suit with every core game in the series that's either rocked the DS, PSP, ...

NIS has finally confirmed a release date for the overseas version of Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness, and it's coming in September and October in Europe and North America respectively. The game comes with a few upgrades to th...

NIS America took some time today to show us the "piggyback" or "monster ride" system in this Disgaea sequel where characters can mount non-humanoid characters and unleash some devastating (and often comical) attacks.
One such...

Mugen Souls is going digital on PlayStation Network this Tuesday, NIS America has announced. A role-playing game developed by Compile Heart, the story follows a goddess by the name of Chou-Chou in her quest to conquer the uni...